The connector disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication 2008-60087 is provided with a housing (insulator) having a plurality of contact support grooves (insertion grooves), a plurality of contacts which are respectively inserted into the plurality of contact support grooves by press-fitting, and a slider (actuator) supported by the housing.
Since a fixed portion in the shape of a projection projects from a side of each contact, inserting each contact into a corresponding contact support groove by press-fitting causes the fixed portion of this contact to be pressed against a side surface of associated one of a plurality of partition walls, defining the plurality of contact support grooves, to thereby be wedged into the side surface. Thereupon, a wedging force occurs between each fixed portion and the associated partition wall, thus preventing each contact from unexpectedly coming out of the associated contact support groove.
In recent years, there have been growing trends to miniaturize connectors and to narrow the pitch of contacts due to the recent trend of multi-contact design. Accordingly, in connectors produced in recent years, partition walls that form a plurality of contact support grooves therebetween are thin compared with those of conventional ones, thus becoming easy to deform plastically or elastically. If the partition walls are easily deformed, the fixed portion of each contact cannot be easily wedged into the associated partition wall, which reduces a holding force acting on the contact by the associated support groove (partition wall) to hold the contact therein.
Additionally, if each partition wall is thin, a stress applied to each partition wall which is caused by press-fitting the plurality of contacts into the corresponding plurality of contact support grooves cannot be sufficiently dispersed and thus remains, so that there is a possibility of the entire housing becoming warped. Specifically, if reflow soldering is performed when each contact is soldered to a circuit board, reflow heat is transmitted to the housing, so that there is a possibility of the housing becoming largely warped by the residual stress. This kind of warping of the housing becomes a cause of a failure in mounting of the contacts to the circuit board.